


Sesame Street and You: Protecting Family, Learning Affection

by Arytra



Series: Section 123 [2]
Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Family of Choice, Gen, Penelope can't resist children, little angsty, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 20:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: After her second visit, Penelope was reprimanded for blatant disrespect leaving her the "consolation prize" of Sesame Street.  Now she just needs to remain professional and distant and not becoming entrenched in the life of Sesame Street.  There was just one thing she wasn't counting on:  She works on Sesame Street.





	Sesame Street and You: Protecting Family, Learning Affection

**Author's Note:**

> So... this was supposed to be a cute little story explaining how Penelope starts to get along with the other characters and I'm still not sure what happened but I think it got away from me. Hopefully, it still works.

It may have been a few years in between her first meeting on Sesame Street and her second, but the fact that she no longer had to have a partner, which was still very much worth the reprimand, thank you, meant that she could visit whenever she chose. Before, Sesame Street had been one of many places that she was supposed to be assigned to, which was why there had been time in between. Now, however, being the “lead agent” for Sesame Street meant that she was the only agent for Sesame Street and it was the only thing she was responsible for. She was just glad that she'd never really wanted to move up in the organization considering that they had cut her off from advancing and handed her a non-problematic street as a consolation prize. With the knowledge that she had just most likely destroyed her career for a group of people she'd met twice, she couldn't really blame them for treating as a loose cannon and expected to see her former partners rise in the ranks over the next couple of years while she stayed still. Further, she was one of the only women in the organization at the moment and none of the few there were willing to talk to her after her reprimand.

It was at this point that Penelope made a decision that would affect the rest of her life, whether she knew it then or not. She decided to completely focus on protecting the street in a way that those who lived there couldn't. She was pretty sure that they could keep out a lot, but she could make certain that they wouldn't need to. She could act as an intermediary and keep out anyone else who might cause problems. She could still talk with those on the street, of course, but her rose-colored innocence had that believe that being good was rewarded was already started to fade. They were good people on that street and she was an agent who had gotten too involved. She couldn't change that, but maybe she could at least make sure that she was able to do something with that sacrifice.

She set up some ground rules for herself so that she wouldn't make her situation, nor the situation for those on Sesame Street, any worse than she had already made it.

1) She would live off the street.  
2) She would be friendly with those on the street, but she would remain strictly professional. Having that lunch with them had most likely been ill-advised.   
3) She would just document what was needed and then leave.   
4) She'd visit regularly because really she had little else to do, but not enough where they became suspicious of her again. 

She didn't bother to write them down as she knew she wouldn't forget them this time. She just had to keep her boundaries and it shouldn't be that hard if she just focused her attention. She was certain that the boundaries were most likely what Sesame Street would want as well anyway even if they had been kind before. She wasn't one of them, after all, and they needed to protect their own. It really was for the best.

***

She dressed properly and headed back a week from when she was last there. She would just politely let Mr. Hooper know the situation and assure him that she could even just stay outside the force field if it was an inconvenience. With this goal in mind, she headed off toward the direction when she found something yellow suddenly in her way. She blinked and took a step back. 

“Hi!” The mess of yellow feathers greeted her. She forced back her first thoughts which was surprise that the bird could talk.

“Hello,” Penelope tried, wondering how to handle this.

“I'm Big Bird,” he said proudly. She found herself once again proud of her ability not to answer with 'you most certainly are'.

“I'm Agent Penelope Carson,” she answered. At his confused look, she tried again. “I'm Penelope.”

He nodded wildly as Penelope realized just what she was dealing with: A child. Her confusion began to pass as she began to try to figure out how to continue. “Do you want to sing my ABCs with me?” He asked hopefully. She examined the situation and decided that it probably wouldn't be too much trouble. Singing a song once wouldn't take long and then she could continue on. After the third time they sang it, however, she realized her mistake and that she had no idea how to get out of said situation without upsetting the bird.

“Big Bird,” Susan's voice rang out and Penelope inwardly thanked every possible wish-granting entity she could think off. “Oh, hi, Agent Carson!”

“Hello, Mrs. Robinson,” she answered back. At Susan's look, she shifted uncomfortably in place. “Uh, Susan.”

Susan smiled at her response before looking back at Big Bird. “You were supposed to meet me at Hooper's for lunch,” she reminded him. Big Bird looked thoughtful.

“Oh yeah!” He said. “I saw Penelope and I forgot!”

Susan gave Penelope an amused look as the other woman looked a bit embarrassed about it. “He seemed to be having trouble with the full name,” she answered. “My first name seemed easier.”

Susan just laughed. “If you do it for one of the kids, you'll have to do it for all of them,” she warned. Penelope nodded, making a mental note about that. Susan took Big Bird's hand and looked back at Penelope. “Where are you heading?”

“To Hooper's Store, actually,” she answered.

“Why don't you join us for lunch?” Susan asked. Big Bird looked at her happily.

“You should come!” He agreed. Penelope started to protest, but found herself agreeing with a nod. At least she'd still be able to talk things over with Mr. Hooper once she was there.

“So, uh, Susan,” Penelope started. “It would probably confuse Big Bird if you called me Agent Carson at lunch, so why don't we just used Penelope?”

Susan just nodded in understanding, though Penelope and her both knew that the other woman was just humoring her. “We wouldn't want to confuse Big Bird,” she agreed. Big Bird moved to protest that he wasn't going to get confused, but Susan gently held his beak and whispered something to him. Big Bird didn't protest afterward, so Penelope figured that he accepted whatever she had to say.

“Penelope, do you want to see my nest when we're done?” He asked instead.

“I, uh, yes. Sure,” she answered. She looked at Susan to see the other woman's reaction and relaxed a bit at Susan's encouraging smile. “I've never been invited over to a nest before.”

“Really?” Big Bird asked, his eyes widening. She shook her head no. “Wow.”

“Big Bird,” Susan said in a mothering tone. “Penelope has a lot to do today so she can't stay there for too long.”

“Oh,” Big Bird said sounding disappointed. He pulled out of it a few seconds later. “She can just come back and play tomorrow!”

“I, uh, maybe,” Penelope answered feeling completely overwhelmed. Susan reached over and touched her arm as Penelope jumped in surprise.

“You're doing great,” she reassured her. Penelope relaxed a bit as they headed into Mr. Hooper's store. Bob looked up from the other side of the store and waved at the trio while Mr. Hooper was having a disagreement with their local Grouch. She knew better than to get involved there. Instead, she stayed with Susan and Big Bird as they found a seat. She watched as a large number of kids came and went both in and out of the store.

Penelope looked at Susan. “Can you order for me?” She asked quietly. “I have no idea what to get.”

“No problem,” Susan whispered back. Penelope relaxed. She enjoyed the conversation with Susan and Big Bird and wasn't surprised at all when Bob joined them from his table.

“Good to see you're back, Agent Carson,” he said happily. Susan leaned over.

“We're calling her Penelope so we don't confuse Big Bird,” Susan said with a twinkle in her eyes. Bob easily saw it and nodded.

“Oh, right,” he said. “We wouldn't want to do that.”

Penelope decided that both of them were terrible at being subtle and continued to pretend like she believed their attempts. It seemed easier. Besides, they didn't want to use her full title and she didn't see the point of enforcing it with them. It was an easy out for both sides.

“Agent Carson,” Mr. Hooper said as he headed over. This man, however, very much did want to use it right now and she was fine with that distance at the moment. Realistically, she needed to be on even footing with him and she couldn't have it if he was calling her by her first name.

“Hello Mr. Hooper,” she answered. Big Bird opened his mouth to say something but Susan fortunately distracted him while Bob pretended to be interested in what the kids were up to. “I realize we need to talk, but I promised Big Bird that I'd see his nest when we finish lunch.”

“And after that?” Mr. Hooper asked.

“And then I think a long talk is in order,” she said as professionally as she could manage considering that she had just admitted that she was delaying a work conversation due to a juvenile bird wanting to have her come over and play. He nodded his agreement to her and got their orders from Susan.

“Penelope?” Big Bird asked. “What does agent mean?”

“Well,” she said. “It's what they call me where I work. My job is having to go to places and help make sure they're safe for everyone living there.”

“Is it safe here?” He asked without a hint of worry. She pretended to look around and then nodded.

“Looks safe to me,” she said with a smile. Big Bird beamed at her. “All of your grown-up friends do a good job making sure it's safe here.”

Big Bird nodded. “They do,” he agreed. “Are you going to come and check a lot?”

Penelope swallowed a bit. “That's something that Mr. Hooper and I are going to talk about,” she said. “Grown-up talk.”

Big Bird made a face at that but let it go. Bob shared a look with Susan and the agent guessed she hadn't hid her worry that well. Neither of them said anything exactly which she attributed to Big Bird, but she did notice the overly friendly overtures that followed. She ate her lunch, viewed Big Bird's nest and wasn't having to fake any sort of amazement at it all, before heading back over. She noticed the other Protectors being less than subtle about how they were listening in outside, or rather, waiting for whatever decision was about to be made.

Penelope tried to ignore them as she headed into a closing Hooper's and shut the door. He turned the sign around to indicate he was closed and motioned for her to join him. “What has you concerned, Agent Carson?” He asked. He didn't sound judgmental, more curious with a bit of exasperation as if his former explanations hadn't been enough for her.

“Nothing,” she answered honestly. He waited. “I've been permanently assigned to Sesame Street. As the lead agent.”

He watched her for a minute. “How many other agents are there?”

“None,” she answered. “Frankly, Mr. Hooper, I pushed too hard after my last visit here and was reprimanded.”

Mr. Hooper's eyes showed the right amount of pity. “This wasn't a promotion.”

“No,” she answered. “I would never ask you to put this Street in danger, but I do want to help. If I'm coming here, then others won't. You have the force field, but it would be easier for you if they didn't come here to begin with right? You're well within your rights to say no. I wouldn't try to force my way in...”

“Agent Carson,” he said, still gruffly with with a gentle undertone. “If I did, what would happen?”

“They would try to send another agent until they ended up with one that could both enter as well as carry on in a more professional manner,” she answered.

“Good to know,” Mr. Hooper said, though she suspected he already knew that. “I meant to you.”

“Oh. I'm guessing they'd ask for my resignation. Possibly, I suppose, they could put me in a desk job, little more than a secretary, but that's probably the best scenario,” she answered. She paused and put her proverbial cards on the table. “I have nowhere else to go.”

“It'll make our lives easier to have an intermediary, Agent Carson,” he informed her. She looked at him in surprise. “You've been honest with me since you first got here. Who better than to work with me to guard Sesame Street?”

She shook his hand and stood up proudly. “I can promise I will do that,” she answered. She paused. “I do respect you, Mr. Hooper, but I will also challenge you if I think I have to.”

Mr. Hooper harumphed. “You can try,” he answered. “They're waiting for you out there.”

She nodded and headed out to where the others were. They all tried to look like that hadn't been interested in the conversation, but Oscar looked over. “So, did he tell you to scram?” He asked in interest. Penelope folded her arms.

“Actually,” she said. “I'll be coming around more often as an intermediary.”

Susan was the first to pull her into an excited hug though Bob wasn't far behind. Bert and Ernie began to ask her several questions while the Count counted all of the excited people. She managed to shake hands with Willy and Mr. Macintosh and nodded to what Gordon was trying to tell her. Oscar's trash can lid slammed, but she knew better than to take it personally. She didn't have anywhere else to go, but maybe it would be okay.

***

Over the next several weeks, Penelope had gotten closer with the three youngest human Protectors. Mr. Hooper knew full well that while their agent had tried to set boundaries in place to stop from fraternizing, as she'd been accused of by her superiors, the three Protectors were having none of it and had seemingly made it their mission in life to involve her. He glanced out toward where Willy and Mr. Macintosh were sitting together and sighed. He understood her plight. As it was, she was politely accepting their enthusiastic invitations and was trying to separate things. He noticed that she didn't complain when he set food down in front of her, paying for it quietly and often not leaving leftovers. He wasn't sure what she was eating at home, but it clearly wasn't a sensible diet. It wasn't that her professionalism left anything to be desired as she was fanatic about making sure that she looked the part of an agent whenever she arrived, but Susan had mentioned her worry at the black circles under her eyes that indicated a lack of sleep.

Today, however, she'd come in with Susan and the two had headed toward a table to talk, joined by Gordon who had left a little earlier. He glanced at the time and noticed that Susan seemed to be worried about something, both standing but not gathering her things. Mr. Hooper glanced over to see what was getting to Susan. He was cleaning up, getting ready to close the store which all of the younger adults knew, but Susan seemed to have her attention on something else. He headed around the counter to see and saw Penelope asleep on her paperwork, arms sprawled on the table and certain to have several kinks in her neck the next day if she stayed in the position too long. Susan paused from reaching over to wake her friend up to looking at Mr. Hooper sheepishly. “She fell asleep while Gordon and I were talking.”

“Don't wake her up,” Mr. Hooper said firmly. Susan looked to protest but he spoke up before she could. “She'll drive straight home if you do.”

“She shouldn't be on the road right now,” Susan said worriedly. Mr. Hooper patted her shoulder.

“I'll take care of it,” he assured her. Susan looked ready to protest, but dropped it knowing that whatever Mr. Hooper was considering was probably better than anything she came up with. She headed out the door and Mr. Hooper held the door. When she was far enough away that he didn't think it would startle her, he slammed the door shut. It had the right effect as Penelope jolted up, trying to figure out what was going on. She glanced at the time, winced, and began to pick up her stuff. He walked over to where she was. “So, since your nap meant that I had to stay late, I'd appreciate some help getting my groceries home.”

Penelope blinked. “I, what?”

“You heard me,” he grumbled, waiting for her to finish. She held back the sigh from realizing that she was going to get home even later than she thought. Still, he had a good point. She carried as many of the groceries as she could while he took the rest. He let them into the apartment and motioning where she could set the bags down. He glanced at her and motioned to the couch. “Sit down for a minute before you leave. You look ready to fall over.”

She thought about protesting once again, but realized that she really didn't want to fall down on the way home, especially if she was already off Sesame Street. “Just until you're done unpacking the groceries,” she warned. He nodded. He moved methodically, if a bit slower than he normally would have until he saw her gently slump to the side. He walked over, made sure that her legs were on the couch and found a spare blanket, tossing it over her. He wrote a note, sticking it on the front door and made his way to bed. “Good night,” he said quietly. “Now stay asleep.”

***

The next morning, Penelope woke up with a start, confused on where she was. It took her a minute to realize that she was in Mr. Hooper's apartment as she remembered the events of the night before. She inwardly cursed herself for not seeing through what he'd been up to and quietly gathered up her stuff before she saw the note on the door. “It's rude to leave without saying good-bye, Agent Carson.” She sighed and set her stuff back down, going into the bathroom to try to at least not look so much like a wind-blown sheepdog. Fortunately, Mr. Hooper was up soon after.

“You wrote a note to keep me from leaving,” she accused.

“You made the choice to stay,” he answered. “I'll make you breakfast.”

“I'll help,” she said quickly. He looked at her in amusement.

“You can cook?” He asked and she looked a bit insulted.

“I live alone, Mr. Hooper. I have to eat something,” she said.

“And your experience with a Jewish breakfast?” He asked. She paused at that.

“I... uh... none,” she said honestly. He pulled out some bagels which recognized, though his were far fresher than she'd had before as well as pulling out toppings and readying one for both of them. “I could have helped with that.”

“You wouldn't have gotten the temperature right,” he answered. “Next time, I'll show you how to make something more complicated.”

“Well, considering I'm pretty sure I could have made my own bagel...” she protested before pausing. “Next time?”

“You couldn't make a bagel and I'm not sure I believe you when you say you cook at home,” he answered.

“I cook!” She answered.

“You eat in my store at least four times a week, Penelope,” he answered.

“I like the food,” she grumbled.

“Then it won't hurt you to learn to make it,” he answered. She just glared at him as she ate her breakfast, but gave up protesting. He'd probably end up with something else she needed to 'learn' if she didn't. And, truth be told, whatever they ended up eating had to taste better than the quick-fix meals she was making most of the time. And the fact that he'd used her name hadn't gone unnoticed. She accepted the olive branch and decided to enjoy that she was having more of a breakfast than she had in a long time.

***

“Gordon. I need your help,” Penelope said without any preamble. He wasn't with children, he wasn't grading papers, he was just reading the newspaper and if he really cared what was in it, she would be happy to rattle off anything that was in the news and several things that he probably wasn't supposed to know because they were classified, but she needed his focus on her right now. For his part, Gordon set down the paper and motioned for her to sit down.

“Did you run down the entire street?” He asked, looking at her disheveled appearance.

“That's not important,” she answered. Before he could continue, she looked at him pleadingly. “Gordon, I need you to listen to me. We can worry about my appearance later.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Did you come to me so that Susan wouldn't push you into having breakfast first?”

“And so Bob wouldn't convince me to take a few breaths. Please, Gordon,” she said. Gordon paused for a minute and sighed.

“Quick explanation. Then food from Hooper's, something you can eat on the move, then we solve the problem,” he decided. She nodded her agreement and continued.

“I need to find out more about foods for Rosh Hashanah,” she said as if it was the most important thing in the world. “I checked work, but they don't have a lot of information on Jewish customs that aren't focused on building a golem.”

Gordon tried hard not to laugh. The one time he'd ever seen his friend look completely out of her mind and it had to do with a friend's religious holiday. She pulled herself together and put her hands on her hips. “Gordon! It's not funny!”

“Sorry,” he said, not really sounding sorry at all, but at least still trying to hide that fact. Penelope put her head in her arms and he sighed. “What do you want to know?”

“How to make something for it,” she answered, not bringing up her head. He started to tease that he couldn't understand her when her was covering her face, but she spoke before he could. “You can hear me.”

He didn't bother to not laugh that time especially since he couldn't see her scowl. “How about honey cake?” He asked. She looked up at him. “I think Susan found a recipe at some point. We'll get the ingredients and figure out what we're doing.”

Penelope relaxed. “We have five days,” she warned him. He shrugged.

“Plenty of time to practice,” he answered.

***

“I don't care what the recipe says,” Susan said, throwing her hands up. “You're cooking it too long and that's the problem!”

“We tried doing it less and it was too undercooked!” Gordon argued.

“Maybe we should track down another recipe,” Bob suggested, looking through a different cookbook.

Penelope was looking at the three of them and wondering how this exercise had gotten out of control. Gordon had agreed to help her, so of course he would be involved. Susan was supposed to have been out most of the day, but ended up with a half-day and had immediately become involved. She wasn't even sure how Bob had ended up there, but she'd realized he'd arrived when he was handing her ingredients like he'd always been there.

“I don't think we have time to find another recipe,” Penelope said softly. They all turned to look at her. “We had to go to a different store to get the ingredients so Mr. Hooper wouldn't notice. It's already getting late. And I have to work over the next couple of days so that will leave one day until Rosh Hashanah.”

She gently closed the cookbook she'd been looking at and forced a professional smile on her face. “Thank you for trying to help,” she said. “Maybe I can get it figured out by the next new year.”

She got to work starting to clean up, not about to leave Susan and Gordon's kitchen in the rather apocalyptic state it was in when Bob gently touched her arm. “You have to work,” he said softly. “But I'm free over the next couple of days.”

“And any new ingredients won't be as noticeable if we buy them from Hooper's,” Susan continued.

“And we can test the recipes before you get here. You still have one more day,” Gordon reminded her. She paused at that.

“It's one thing to ask you to help me make it when I'm here, but...” she started and Susan grabbed her hands.

“We're offering,” she said firmly. “That's what family does.”

Penelope swallowed. “I'm not...”

“About to clean up this mess yourself. Bob, grab the broom. Gordon, please help me with the dishes,” she said firmly. Penelope found herself too busy to finish her protest and she'd forgotten about it until she was at home that night with no chance to do so. She shrugged it off for the moment simply grateful that there was still a change to fulfill her surprise.

***

It didn't take all of them nearly as long to figure out a new and better recipe. Susan said that they'd gone looking for help and asked the right questions. Once they had it figure out, they let Penelope do the majority of the work the day of the holiday, only commenting if they thought it might help. When she pulled it out of the oven, she looked at all of them. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“You don't have to do everything yourself,” Bob told her, wrapping a friendly arm around her shoulder. “Not anymore.”

She offered him a small smile back even if she realized it was going to take more time than that. She picked up the cake and carried it over to Hooper's store as the other three followed. She took a deep breath as he looked at her. “Shanah Tovah,” she said with as much confidence as she could find, holding out the cake. Mr. Hooper took it from her and set it down.

“Shanah Tovah,” he repeated, looking at all of them. “You will come to dinner tonight, won't you?”

All of them quickly agreed. Bob looked toward Penelope. “She insisted we needed to make something for today,” he said. Penelope tried to give him a look to shut him up, but Bob didn't look the least bit phased.

“It's a honey cake,” Penelope said, as if he couldn't already tell. “Gordon said it was a good thing to make.”

“But Penelope still had the idea,” Gordon said. The agent was certain at this point that all of them were going to shove her under the bus at this point. Fortunately, Mr. Hooper just gave her a nod, letting it end. He gave the other three sterner looks which did cause them to back down slightly before looking at her.

“Penelope, will you go let Mr. Macintosh know that his sandwich is going to be a bit late?” He asked. She nodded and headed out as Mr. Hooper turned on the other three. “If you want to keep her, stop trying to scare her off. You three know better and all I've heard is complaints that she isn't here often enough...”

The fact that she managed to hide her smile was a testament to her professionalism though she wasn't sure if it was due to the fact that they wanted her there, due to the fact that Mr. Hooper understood her, or both.

***

“Big Bird! I don't care what the other birds said! Get down,” Penelope ordered, hands on her hips. She was very much wondering if she could arrest birds for convincing other much younger birds that they could fly if they just tried hard enough. She'd look into it. She'd possibly make up a rule or six. For now, however, she was trying to get the younger bird to not hurt himself jumping off the landing.

“But Penelope!”

“Don't you Penelope me!” She said sternly. “Go over to the stairs and carefully get down here!”

“But I'm a bird!” He tried again.

“Not all birds can fly!” She exclaimed. “Besides, you're a special bird.”

“Special?” He asked. She had him. “How?”

“I'll tell you if you carefully crawl back down,” she offered. Big Bird didn't need any more convincing and quickly did as she asked. She went to work making certain that none of his feathers had been broken which was not the same as preening him no matter what Gordon said. Annoying surrogate older brother science teachers definitely didn't know everything. Big Bird looked at her expectantly. “You're a bird who lives on the ground. Some birds fly, others swim, and others live in the city. You though get to live in your own nest and have lots of people to take care of you. Even birds who fly don't get to have that.”

“Like how Mr. Looper makes me birdseed milkshakes?” He asked.

“Hooper, Big Bird,” she corrected. “And yes, like Mr. Hooper. Or like when Susan reads to you. Or when Bob sings to you. Or when Gordon helps you practice counting. Or when Mr. Macintosh slips you some fruit to eat. And how Willy wears the feather you gave him to show that you're family.”

She took a step back and nodded to herself. Big Bird looked at her. “Not a lot of birds have that?”

“No, Big Bird. They don't,” she answered. “That's why you're special.”

Big Bird looked thoughtful. “I wouldn't want to give up Gordon or Susan or Mr. Looper or Bob or Willy or Mr. Macintosh just to fly.”

“I wouldn't either,” she assured him.

“Penelope?” He asked.

“Yes, Big Bird?”

“Do other birds have a Penelope?” He asked. She gave him a confident smile.

“I can promise you that no other bird has a Penelope,” she answered. She didn't bother glancing around before giving him a kiss on his beak. “Go on. I have work I need to do.”

She watched as he rushed off and smiled a bit before getting back to her work.

***

“Penelope! What did you tell Big Bird?” Mr. Hooper asked when she visited his store.

“Most likely that your name is Hooper and not Looper,” she offered. “You're welcome.”

“He's been following Gordon around for the past three days,” Mr. Hooper informed her. She glanced over at Susan who was trying and failing not to laugh into her drink. The other woman nodded. 

“He'll order whatever Gordon wants and then get upset because he wanted a milkshake,” she said.

“He's shadowing Gordon?” Penelope asked. “I didn't teach him to do that. I probably should though. It's a good learning game.”

Susan looked up at her. “What did we talk about with games for Big Bird?”

“Not to teach him to be a spy,” she said easily, muttering 'yet' under her breath so the older woman couldn't hear her. It would be good for Big Bird to learn games that taught stealth and patience and hiding in a crowd. Though, she was pretty sure that last one was going to be quite difficult to manage. “I'm sorry he's ordering food he doesn't want.”

She didn't really sound sorry about it at all, but she also didn't see how this was her fault. At her confusion, Susan continued before Mr. Hooper could. “He mentioned something about you saying he was special?”

Penelope couldn't hide the wince fast enough and both of her companions easily caught it. She decided against protesting that it wasn't her fault. “He was trying to fly. From the landing. So I convinced him that having humans who took care of him was better than flying. I didn't expect him to shadow Gordon.”

“Copy Gordon,” Susan said. “No spy game names.”

“Fine,” she said, trying not to roll her eyes. “Copy Gordon. He's just trying to figure out who he is. He'll get bored soon. He's a little kid.”

Mr. Hooper looked dubious about it but Susan shrugged. “You're probably right,” she agreed. “It's still pretty funny...”

Both women tried to stifle their laughter when Mr. Hooper didn't join in. Penelope looked at him. “You didn't make up a sandwich for me?” She asked.

“You can have it when he stops,” Mr. Hooper answered. “Better hope you're right.”

Penelope was not sulking. She was merely strategically retreating in a less than pleased way. Susan gave her a look of encouragement. “At least you stopped him from jumping,” she offered. Before Penelope could answered, Bob opened the door to the store with his eyes sparkling in amusement.

“Big Bird is trying to help Gordon teach his class,” he said with a slight laugh. Susan broke down into laughter again. Penelope was pretty certain she was never going to get lunch again and she better start grabbing something easy to eat in the morning. She waited until Susan followed Bob out to go watch before she looked back at Mr. Hooper. She could, of course, ask for it. But that wasn't how they did things. He handed her an apple and nodded, not maliciously toward the door for her to follow the other two. She forced back the sigh and headed out.

Bob was nearly falling over laughing. “You mean he's trying to order like Gordon too?”

Susan reached out to steady him. “And then remembers that that wasn't what he wanted!” She answered, amusement in her own tone.

“He's a kid,” Penelope tried to argue again as she caught up. “And it's not that funny.”

Susan looked at Bob. “She's upset because Mr. Hooper isn't feeding her until Big Bird stops.”

Bob whistled. “You are in trouble.”

“I'm not in trouble because he has to have authority over me for me to be in trouble,” she answered. “I'm just not happy about the shift in my schedule. It's his choice to make lunch or not.”

“You could ask him to make you something,” Susan suggested. “Like the rest of us do.”

“I'm fine,” Penelope said. Bob smirked a bit.

“You two are too alike,” he teased.

“We are not,” Penelope sniffed, not about to entertain that thought at all. “I should get more credit for not letting Big Bird get hurt.”

Susan wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “And we're all very happy for that. We just got an amusing second part to it.”

“Hi Penelope,” Gordon said, heading over. At Bob and Susan's disappointed looks that they'd missed Big Bird trying to teach, he rolled his eyes. “It's lunchtime.”

“Hi Penelope! It's lunchtime,” Big Bird copied.

“I wouldn't try Hooper's,” Penelope muttered. “And sorry, Gordon.”

Gordon just smiled at her to show there were no hard feelings. “Why don't we go play one of these things then?”

“Why don't we go play one of these things then,” Big Bird repeated. Penelope looked at Susan.

“You have to admit. He's good at shadowing Gordon.”

“Penelope!”

“Fine. Copying,” she said, rolling her eyes and looking at Bob. “Why is it that it's fine when Big Bird wants to be a Science Teacher or a nurse or a mechanic or a singing teacher, but when I want to teach him my job, Susan gets up in arms about it?”

“Probably because you fully admitted that you got into a fight with werewolves when you first started,” Bob answered. Susan nodded firmly.

“He could work with me,” Penelope offered. “Here on Sesame Street.”

“No!” Susan answered and Gordon gave the agent a firm look. Big Bird just looked between them and then at Penelope.

“What do you do when you work?” He asked. Penelope smiled at him.

“I tell stories to yellow birds,” she answered. “And sometimes, we even sing our ABCs together.”

“Penelope,” Susan scolded. She shrugged back at her friend. After all, technically that was what she would be helping out with for the rest of the day so she wasn't actually fibbing.

***

Her phone was ringing. It wasn't that late, but it was later than her phone usually rang. She headed over to answer it, hoping it wasn't one of her bosses deciding to put her on a quick job again. Now that they'd given her 'help' in the form of other agents, they felt she could help out in other areas as well. Something she was still trying to nip in the bud. “Hello?” She asked.

“Penelope?” The panic in Bob's voice put her on full alert.

“What happened?” She demanded, shifting into the agent part of her personality.

“It's Cookie Monster. He's in jail.”

Penelope blinked for a minute. She would have suspected that he would have eaten the handcuffs, but apparently he'd been law-abiding enough to go with. “Bob,” she instructed, putting as much authority into what she was saying as possible. “I need you to make sure no other monsters leave the street right now. And Bob? None of the Protectors do either.”

“Right,” he answered, though sounding unsure. The last thing she needed was all of them down at the police precinct trying to get Cookie Monster out.

“I will handle this,” she said firmly. “But I can't do that if I'm worried about everyone else. I need someone to handle things there.”

“Mr. Hooper...”

“I'm not on the phone with Mr. Hooper,” she answered. Realistically, any of them would have been fine, but Bob was panicked and the best way to handle this was to give him something to do. “Will you do it for me?”

“Of course,” he said, sounding more sure of himself. She relaxed, pleased that one task was done.

“It might take a bit. And I'm buying him cookies on the way back. I'll see all of you once I've retrieved him,” she said and headed out.

It fortunately hadn't been hard to get the monster out and Cookie Monster was more indignant than anything. She bought four bags of chocolate chip cookies on their way back and tried not to look like she was gripping the steering wheel. In what she hoped was a calm tone, she glanced at Cookie Monster before looking back on the road. “Why did you go with him?” She asked. “Everyone knows the rules on Sesame Street don't always match the rest of the city.”

“Penelope said laws important. Bob and Susan and Gordon said laws important,” he answered. She tried not to wince at that.

“They are,” she agreed after a minute. “But sometimes, people use those laws badly.”

“Penelope? How me know when law used bad?” He asked. She paused for a minute and then smiled.

“If Susan or Gordon or Bob or I would be mad at you, it's not used badly. If we just sigh a lot or don't care, then it is,” she answered. “Just... ask a grown-up. One who isn't trying to arrest you. And always ask for a grown-up to go with you.”

“Me understand,” he said. He cracked open the bag and Penelope quickly grabbed one of the cookies before he downed all of them. She bit into it a bit more angrily than she would have preferred, but Cookie Monster just patted her hand.

“Penelope good law person,” he informed her before opening another bag. She just smiled. She took him to Hooper's and let the monster enjoy all of the happy reunions going on while she stood back and watched. Bob caught her eyes and came over.

“Thank you,” he said, looking far more relieved that he'd sounded earlier.

“They shouldn't bother him any more,” she said. She raised her voice slightly. “Which is important since you can't lock him out when he was trying to do the right thing.”

Mr. Hooper supposedly ignored her as she knew he would. Bob looked worried. “What if he tries it again?”

“Then he deals with me in a less than pleasant mood,” she answered. He looked at her.

“What were you tonight?” He asked.

“Extremely pleasant,” she answered. He gave her a dubious looked at that, but really was too pleased with the results to say anything else. She sighed. “If you lock out cops, there will be questions. Questions none of us want to deal with. Let me handle it.”

“Are you asking me or Mr. Hooper?” He asked.

“I'm asking you to ask Mr. Hooper for me,” she answered diplomatically. Bob smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Communication is an important part of a friendship, Penelope,” he reminded her.

“We communicate,” she said. “Sometimes it's just loud communication with a hint of disagreement.”

“That's called arguing.”

“...Loud communication with a hint of disagreement. And only sometimes.”

Gordon put his hand on Bob's shoulder. “They don't communicate verbally,” he said, meeting Penelope's eye. She didn't disagree. She met Mr. Hooper's eye and there was a silent agreement that this would never happen again.

***

“Alright, Agent Carson,” one of her supposed agents said. “I finally got permission to join you at Sesame Street.”

“I didn't sign off on that, Agent,” she informed him, trying to remember his name. It was hard to remember names when she was constantly needing to get the lot of them reassigned. He pushed a piece of paper in front of her signed by their superior. Well, at least she knew his name now. “I'll do what I can, Agent Rictor. But I'm not vouching for you. You have to get in by your own merits.”

“Get in?” He demanded. She rolled her eyes.

“Page 15,” she answered. “I still think I should be allowed to write the training book as a 'Sesame Street and You' kind of story. Part 15: Only Good Boys and Girls Can Go Through the Forcefield.”

“Are you mocking me, Agent Carson?” He demanded. Penelope looked at him.

“I wouldn't have to if you learned the rules and respected that I am your superior. Or so they tell me,” she said. “And I simply think that it would help all of your retain the information better. Since I don't have a choice in you coming, you can read on the way.”

She eventually gave up trying to get him to give her the keys to the car and just let the other drive. She was certainly writing up a full complaint when she returned. She wasn't sure if the force field could read her thoughts or intentions or the huge apologetic feeling she was having, but if it could, she hoped that it sent those feelings and thoughts and intentions to the Protectors. Bob met them right outside the barrier with a wave. Apparently the force field could read her in some way. “Hi Bob.”

“Hi Penelope,” he answered easily. The other agent stared at her. Penelope ignored it.

“This is Agent Rictor,” she said instead. “I already told him I wasn't going to vouch for him.”

Bob looked at little surprised by that and motioned for Penelope to talk to him apart from the other agent, something she easily did. “Mr. Hooper isn't happy about this.”

“I wouldn't think he would be,” Penelope answered. “I had to bring him this far, Bob. They went over my head.”

She kept her professional tone but let him see the anger and apology in her expression. Bob looked over at the other agent. “I need to check with the others first.”

He headed back and Penelope waited. She did reach out and was relieved that there wasn't a push back from the force field. They weren't that mad at her. The agent next to her was a mixture of impatience and anger. There was no way the force field would let him in and she was a bit confused on why were even checking into it at all. So when Mr. Hooper came to the edge, she was even more surprised.

Mr. Hooper gave her a quick nod of acknowledgment and then turned to the other agent. “You won't come in,” he informed him. “I don't care what your boss says. We make the decision on who is safe to have on this street.”

“You let her in!” The other exclaimed.

“She's safe,” Mr. Hooper answered. The other agent looked at her in disgust before storming off.

“I'm going to hear about that tomorrow,” she said, trying to keep her voice light.

“That's tomorrow,” he answered. “The others are probably worried.”

She nodded, easily walking onto the street. “I don't have a car to get home tonight,” she sighed. “He had the keys.”

“Do you want Susan and Gordon to drive you home?” He asked.

“Do you think they would mind if I spent the night there?” She asked. He just gave her a look.

“They've been waiting for you to ask for a long time,” he answered. “You're always welcome here, Penelope.”

“Will you make me dinner?” She asked.

“If you help make it,” he answered. “And try not to burn it this time.”

“I'm getting better,” she answered, dropping it as they entered the store, professionalism back in her step and the uncertainty she'd let Mr. Hooper see was replaced by an air of confidence. “He's gone.”

“Are you going to get into trouble?” Bob asked. Cookie Monster looked over from where he was sitting.

“Penelope not in trouble,” he said decisively. Big Bird nodded in agreement.

“She knows all the rules!” He agreed. She found herself giving both of them a grateful hug. She turned back to Bob.

“It's nothing I can't handle,” she assured him. She looked over at Susan and Gordon. “He did take my car though.”

“He didn't!” Susan said while Gordon looked about ready to charge out the door after him.

“I thought I could stay on Sesame Street tonight,” she said, catching Gordon's attention back. Susan still spoke up first.

“You can stay with us as long as you need!” She promised her, pulling her into a hug which Penelope followed suit on. Gordon nodded his agreement, pulling her into a second hug. She figured that at the very least her request had stopped him from chasing down her soon-to-be-former-subordinate. She was going to hear about fraternization and not helping Agent Rictor get in, but he did still leave her stranded and she was technically his superior. It wouldn't be hard to get him transferred for that.

“I only need tonight,” she said.

“And after I teach her to make Matzah Ball soup,” Mr. Hooper said firmly. “We'll make enough for everyone.”

Penelope nodded her agreement. There was quite a bit of cheering and she relaxed back into her chair. She thought back to the first night when she'd created her rules for how to adjust here and tried not to laugh when she realized just how badly she'd broken almost all of them. She still hadn't moved here, a step even she thought would be too far, but the other rules had been not just broken but decimated.

Her fourth rule to try to stop by often because she had nothing else to do with her job had succeeded, but the second part of it that involved making them nervous wasn't even a possibility. She could have stayed day after day and the only think that they would have been upset over is that she didn't have a place to sleep. Then again, she probably would considering that Big Bird would offer to share her nest and she had a very hard time turning him down when it wasn't for his own good. She also had that problem with Cookie Monster, come to think about it. And Grover. And Ernie. She made a note to try to increase her resistance toward children and monsters.

Her third rule, which had involved documenting and leaving hadn't even happened the first day. Big Bird had caught her attention and that was the end of that. That part of her plan had not considered her apparently terrible record at resisting children. Still, it was better this way.

Then there was her second rule. The last of the broken rules she'd created. At that point, she'd been concerned over having one lunch with the Protectors. At this point, she had done far more than that. She'd learned to cook with Mr. Hooper. She'd gotten involved in Gordon, Susan, and Bob's sometimes ridiculous plans. She'd accidentally encouraged Big Bird to shadow Gordon and still convinced the young bird that flying wasn't everything. She'd rescued Cookie Monster from the police department. She was involved and there was no getting around that now. Her superiors were right that she was probably far too native at this point.

And yet, she wasn't sure if you could work on Sesame Street and not go a little native. Even more importantly, she wasn't sure if she'd want to. If there was one rule, other than the one to not move here, that she hadn't broken and it was the most important: She had certainly helped to protect the street. She had kept outside interference in the form of the United States Government from coming to bother them. She had lessened the work that the Protectors had had to do. Out of all of the rules that she had kept, that one was the most important to her.

Bob sat down next to her. Then Susan sat on the other side of the table with Gordon. This was her family and she would protect it, but there was something new there as well: They would take care of her. Penelope had chosen a field where she had to act tough in order to succeed and then she's still managed to botch that up when she'd told off her boss. Now, she was here, sitting with her older 'siblings' and was about to go make dinner for them all with Mr. Hooper. “Are you going to be okay?” Gordon asked, looking at her carefully.

“It's just a car, Gordon,” she reminded him. “And I'll get it back tomorrow.”

“That's what I think too,” he agreed. “But you look distracted.”

“Oh,” she answered. She made a motion as if to brush away the worry. “I'm fine.”

She noticed that Susan didn't look convinced and reached over, squeezing her hand to reassure her. Bob gently touched her arm. “We're here if you need us.”

“I know,” she assured him. She looked at him, while keeping an eye on Susan. “So, since we accept me here, does that mean that I can teach Big Bird how to decode messages?”

“Penelope!” Susan exclaimed, though she didn't bother to push further when Penelope just started laughing. Gordon tried to hide it, but easily joined in, followed by Bob. Susan tried to keep up the look before falling into laughter herself. Penelope folded her arms triumphantly and felt herself completely relax. Sesame Street was special and she'd protect it, but the special gift she hadn't been expecting, was that it would protect her in return.


End file.
